Oceans
by mellish
Summary: The ocean reminds Kairi about too many things: friends, promises, the difficult task of waiting, and the tricky number of three. Oneshot.


A/N: Warning: spoilers for the ending of KH1. This story is set right after that.

**Oceans**

"_Floating in the summer sunshine. We are flying. We are blue. Falling like a summer rain drop. Like a teardrop. Like the dew. Nothing but a blue horizon. All around us like a glove. Feeling it go on forever. Far below us. Far above." _

His eyes were too much like the ocean. Both of their eyes, actually – Riku's would be the soft green-blue edging the shore, the sand, and Sora's was the deep endless part that blurred away into the sky. Earth and sky – sky and earth, Kairi in between, the fragment they tried to protect, the shard that might have kept them apart, but now all three of them were out of reach from each other. And the waves swept in and swept out and she would sit for hours, sometimes, imagining two heads breaking the surface in laughter, and swimming towards her. The darkness had never existed. The other worlds were fantasies – their ship had yet to sail.

But the sand would cool under the hot sun eventually, the beach's heat gone with the sunset and moonrise.

_Where are you guys?_

Sora said he'd come back and find her, and she believed that – _his face is dissipating into stormclouds and shooting stars, the beach is full of them, but Kairi is alone._ Riku – she didn't know all of it, he had been encased in darkness for a bit but he could never be completely bad. No way. _And his hand had held hers in Neverland, laced with her fingers in blunt reassurance and in her state of non-emotion she could still feel his fear and regret – Kairi, I'll save you, I'll save you._ The shadow of the palm tree would stretch until it was all dark gray, and there was no ship in the sky or water, no footsteps behind her.

_Where are you guys? Come back home._

Selphie was sweet enough to eat lunchtime with her, she even invited Kairi to spend time with Tidus and Wakka, but a silly sense of loyalty made Kairi decline. It was the island – it was the three of them versus the three of _us_, although the guys did most of the brawling while Selphie and Kairi took turns on the skipping rope. Three's a crowd, and no one ever latched off to find another partner – it was three, it always would be, no pairs. _No pairs_. Her heart would go a little funny on her – girls grew up faster than guys, she knew that stuff. Both memories were sacred, equal. _You guys shouldn't even _be_ memories. You're still alive, you're still real to me. Come back. Come back home. _Kairi always knew how to hope, and that was what she clung to – promises, oaths, star-shaped tokens and friendship that would last _forever_.

She walked alone in the island, arms behind her back. The sound of Wakka's blitzball and Tidus' proud, high-pitched dares would ring all through her stroll towards the secret place – beneath the roots, dark and slightly forbidden. (Who were they kidding, though, the kids _owned_ this island more than any restrictions, and everyone knew that.) Tidus' voice did that funny cracking thing when she entered, and it rang in her head like it was being echoed around the cave. Riku already had a cool bass when he was fifteen, but Sora's was still a bit lilting, like a little brother's. _How would you sound, now?_

She took a stone and giggled in spite of herself. _How would you look? I'm going to grow my hair, you better believe it. I've outgrown my skirt already. Having fun, Sora? Riku? I'm waiting here, I'm being kept company by your memories. _By the faces she etched into the stone, smiling white against the gray. She allowed herself to scribble a paopu into Sora's hand – she can't tell which looks more like a star, his fingers or the fruit, none of them were ever very skilled at drawing. _He turns back and smiles_. The tear dripped down before she could stop it. Not like that, no. _Don't be a sissy, Kairi._ She moved off to another bit of wall and started to carve out the three of them – Sora doing that goofy squish-face, Riku smirking with a twinkle in his eyes (and sometimes it was very, very hard to be three and not four) and Kairi with both sets of teeth showing. _When we've changed enough we can come here and give ourselves makeovers._

And she would stand and brush the soil from her too-short skirt and smile at the door to another world, keep it locked like all the memories and thoughts and the burning sense of adventure.

_We'll be together again someday, and if you ever go away again I won't let you leave me behind._

The moon was a bright paopu fruit shining in the sky, and the sea was their reflection.

Kairi would wait, and hope, but the next time, she wouldn't let go. _So there_.

"_Where you are. Do you know I think of you? Where you are. Do you know? I hope you do."_

* * *

A/N: The first and last lines (in quotation) are taken from the song _Where You Are_ by The October Project. I tend to work around their lyrics a lot.

This is actually a possible prologue to another KH story I intend to write (also with Kairi, but this one involves Axel - in a platonic sense - and the KH2 storyline). As usual, any and all comments are very greatly appreciated. :D Thanks for reading.


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